The Grumman XF10F was the US Navy’s first variable geometry wing fighter. It was a very troublesome aeroplane with many faults so the project was cancelled and only one prototype flew.

The Grumman XF10F was the US Navy’s first ‘swing wing’ fighter that was required so that high speed jet fighters could fly slow enough to land on an aircraft carrier.

Design began as a swept wing version of the Grumman F9F Panther that evolved to meet the requirements of the new wing and the prototype first flew on 19 May 1952.

The XF10F incorporated many new innovations but most of them did not work properly, about the only thing that did work as planned was the variable geometry wing.

In any event, the introduction of larger aircraft carriers with angled flight decks made the XF10F unnecessary and the project was cancelled in April 1953.

This model represents the only XF10F-1 in mid 1952.

Planet 1:72 kit completed by Leigh Edmonds in January 2021.